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dc.contributor.authorLove, Peter
dc.contributor.authorSmith, J.
dc.contributor.authorAckermann, Fran
dc.contributor.authorIrani, Z.
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-19T04:18:24Z
dc.date.available2019-02-19T04:18:24Z
dc.date.created2019-02-19T03:58:16Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.identifier.citationLove, P. and Smith, J. and Ackermann, F. and Irani, Z. 2018. The praxis of stupidity: an explanation to understand the barriers mitigating rework in construction. Production Planning & Control. 29 (13): pp. 1112-1125.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74906
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/09537287.2018.1518551
dc.description.abstract

The practice of ‘functional stupidity’ forms the essence of Alvesson and Spicer’s ‘Stupidity-based theory of organisations’. Functional stupidity is an incapacity and/or disinclination on the part of organisational members to exercise critical reflection about what they are doing, to understand why they are doing it, and determine what the consequences of their activities are beyond the immediate task at hand. Drawing on the authors’ empirical research with regard to the nature of rework causation, we have observed that there is a proclivity for functional stupidity to reside in everyday practice in construction. We noticed that functional stupidity was a recurring organisational issue explicitly linked to ‘power and politics’ that was played out in numerous construction projects. In these projects managers attempted to discourage critical reflection that called into question prevailing organisational norms and values that had been sanctioned under the auspices of a ‘zero-vision’. In some instances, this, in turn, led to reinforcing ‘stupidity self-management’ behaviour whereby employees intentionally limited their own critical reflection creating a vicious zone of zemblanity that kept being played out in projects. The corollaries in this instance being an inability to learn, engender innovation, and improve organisational and project performance.

dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.relation.sponsoredbyhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103018
dc.titleThe praxis of stupidity: an explanation to understand the barriers mitigating rework in construction
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume29
dcterms.source.number13
dcterms.source.startPage1112
dcterms.source.endPage1125
dcterms.source.issn0953-7287
dcterms.source.titleProduction Planning & Control
curtin.departmentSchool of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME)
curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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